In 2016, when Farhad Moshiri assumed majority ownership at Everton, the Iranian businessmen pledged to retain the finest players and spend money on targets finer still.
How’s that gone? The intervening years have been fraught with inconsistency and, recently, genuine concerns about the Premier League ground on which Goodison Park stands.
The Friedkin Group are gearing up to take the steering wheel, having agreed a deal to take Moshiri’s 94% stake in September. Whether this will happen in time for the January transfer window, and whether funds will be made free to spend on first-team arrivals, is anybody’s guess, though Sean Dyche’s squad sorely needs an addition or two.
Goals are an issue once again, and with Dominic Calvert-Lewin out of contract next summer, this is heightened. Armando Broja will hopefully be fit soon, however, and Beto is starting to find his feet.
Beto's improvements at Everton
Everton signed Beto from Italian club Udinese for a £26m fee last summer, but he flattered to deceive throughout his maiden campaign in England, scoring just three times across 30 outings during the 2023/24 Premier League season.
This year, he’s only notched one strike across seven top-flight appearances, albeit having yet to start and bagging the all-important equaliser against Fulham to salvage a point.
There’s something to be said of Beto’s physicality and athleticism. Contrary to Calvert-Lewin, the Guinea-Bissau international likes to make darting runs through the lines and latch onto surgical deliveries, something that fits Everton’s new less-frequent-crossing style.
Everton are 12th for crosses in the Premier League this term with 187 made so far. Last season, the Merseysiders finished third in the rankings with 752 made. Calvert-Lewin’s struggles have been illuminated.
In Beto, Everton are starting to find a weapon capable of coming up trumps in the closing stages of the match; after all, he equalised against Southampton one week on from his strike against Fulham, though it was chalked off for a marginal offside.
While there are suggestions that he could be on the move in 2025, Everton will want to keep him at the club until the summer. He adds a dimension. Sometimes it’s best not to sell.
Sometimes, though, cashing in is the right thing. Take Demarai Gray, for example, whose time in Saudi Arabia hasn’t provided the on-field riches that the dynamic forward might have hoped for. He’s scored even less than Beto since leaving.
Why Everton struck gold selling Demarai Gray
Gray played for Everton over two campaigns, and held a prominent position in the team at that. He’s never been the most prolific, but pace and positional flexibility allowed for fluidity in the frontline.
You might say that the 28-year-old played the finest football of his career on Merseyside, garbed in blue. Indeed, Gray scored three goals across his first four Everton appearances in the Premier League, and finished that campaign with a praisable nine goal contributions from 28 starts.
During the Jamaica international’s first season at the Liverpool-based outfit, he instantly proved to inject electricity into the frontal group, ranking among the top 8% of forwards in the Premier League in 2021/22 for progressive carries and the top 6% for successful take-ons per 90, as per FBref.
A carry is considered progressive if the ball is moved towards the opponent’s goal at least 10 yards from its starting point or is carried into the penalty area.
Such faculties even led journalist Scott Saunders to remark: “Demarai Gray is absolutely electric, fair play.”
Leicester City
169
13
15
0.17
Birmingham City
78
8
4
0.15
Everton
75
12
6
0.24
Al-Ettifaq
29
4
5
0.31
Bayer Leverkusen
12
1
2
0.25
Gray’s contribution rate might be at its best with Al-Ettifaq, but he’s performing at a lower level of quality and, moreover, has only actually scored four goals since making the move in August 2023, in a deal worth £8m.
This might not seem like much, but Gray joined the Everton fold for less than £2m, ending a brief and rather unsuccessful stint in Germany with Bayer Leverkusen.
While Everton didn’t collect the heftiest figure for his sale, Transfermarkt record that Gray is currently worth about £7m, so that’s about right. Furthermore, when considering the paltry figure that was forked out for his initial arrival from Leverkusen, it can be revealed that the Blues actually collected a bountiful 488% profit on their low-priced and low-risk venture.
While Goodison Park is struggling to hit a rich vein of attacking form under Dyche’s wing, it’s hard to imagine that Gray would inspire the current crop into action. After all, the likes of Iliman Ndiaye perform a similar role to him – and that Senegal international wears the trappings of a finer player than Everton’s ex.
More to the point, Gray is struggling for playing time in the Saudi Pro League under Steven Gerrard, making just four appearances this term, yet to score and with one lonely assist.
After hitting such middling ground across his first campaign in new territory, four goals and four assists apiece across 25 matches, Everton chiefs must be delighted with the funds collected from his departure.
His total tally of four goals from 29 matches for Al-Ettifaq falls below that of Beto, who has hardly been a goalscoring machine under Dyche’s wing but still presents a haul of seven goals from 46 fixtures, starting only 12 of those.
It’s easy to cast a doleful gaze back to a former forward who once did well in the club’s colours, but Gray displayed a streak toward the end that bespoke his non-committal mindset, and since he’s actually scored less than Beto since moving to the Gulf, it’s hardly a sale that has proved detrimental to Everton.
Maybe his best Premier League football lay ahead, but it’s an assumption that falls flat when looking at his performances for Al-Ettifaq. For such a healthy profit, the Toffees did the right thing.
Everton may regret selling ace who's outscored DCL & Beto combined in 24/25
Everton must regret allowing the talent to leave Goodison Park.
ByEthan LambNov 21, 2024
